Machine for setting up cartons



Dec. 3, 1929, M. BURGER MACHINE FOR SETTING UP CARTONS Filed Sept 28,1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 M. BURGER MACHINE FOR SETTING UP CARTONS Dec. 3.1929.

Filed Sept. 28. 1928 5 Sheets-Shawnv 2 Dec. 3, 1929. M. BURGER 1,738, 7

MACHINE FOR SETTING UP CARTONS Filed Sept. 28, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 3Dec. 3, 1929. M. BURGER 3 4 MACHINE FOR SETTINGv UP CARTONS Filed Sept.23. 2 l 92 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 v, Z9 Mm- Dec. 3, 1929. M. BURGER 1,738,034

MACHINE FOR SETTING UP CARTONS Filed S ept. gs, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 5Wfflw Gaga/Q till Patented Dec. 3,1929

j UNITED ST E PATENT? OFFICE manrm BURGER, or monnrs, xr.-i.mors',nssmnon no em Looxme I comramr, A conrona'rron or rttmors 'macnmn nonsnr'rme 11g cannons Application fi1ed8 epten1ber28, 1928. serial no.308,988.

There is a type of egg carton that has transverse partitlons integralwith the body of the carton, these partitions being ada ted to be swuninto vertical positions an be hookedat t 'eir lower ends through slotsin the bottom wall; "the bottom wall being pushed up in the middle so asto form in effeet a longitudinal partition. These cartons are deliveredtothe user in a collapsed or flattened condition, the bottom wall beingflattened out and the transverse partitions 1y.--

ing flat u on the same.

The .ob ect of the present invention is to produce a simple andnovelmachine for setting up a carton of the type-described above. The variousfeatures of novelty whereby my invention is characterized willhereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a.full understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages,reference may be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure l is a rearview of a machine embodying the present invention, in its normal openposition; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the collapsed carton, onareduced'scale; Fig. 3 is an edge view of the collapsed carton, thethickness of the material of which the carton is made being.exaggerated; Fig. f is a top plan view of the machine, opened and havingthereon a collapsed carton, but only part of the carton being shown;Figs. 5 and 6 are sections taken approximately on line 5-6 of Fig. 4,showing the parts of the machine in two different positions; Figs. 7 and8 are transverse sections through Figs. 5

and 6 respectively; Fig. 9 is a view similarto Figs. 7 and8,.illustrating the final posi-- tions of the parts in the settin up ofthe carton; Fig. 10 is a section ta en on line l0-10 of Fig. 8, showingonly a'fragment of the machine and carton; and Fig. 11 is a sectiontaken on line l1-11-of Fig. 9 and illustrating the same parts as in Fig.10.-

The carton to be operated upon may be made of a single piece, as shownin-the drawings, comprising a bottom section A, two side wall sections Band O, a cover section D and a false top divided into a series oftransverse scnummnn sections E, each integrally united withor securedto-the two side sections at one end, solthat it may be swung down into avertie ca the V F through which the hook-shaped lower ends 2 of theflaps ma be pressed so as to be interlocked with t e bottom of thecarton. Each of the transverse artition elements has two of thehook-shaped ortions, one on each side of the longitudina center of thecar- ISSUED osition when the carton is set up. In ottom of the cartonare transverse slots ton. The bottom wall of the carton is scored alonthe lon' itudinal' center, line, as indicate at a, so t at it may befolded along the center line in setting up the carton.

' The carton is delivered to the user in the flattenedcondition-illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. Upon pressing u what are thediagonally opposite long e ges of the carton when set up, namely at thepoints 9 and h in Fig. 3, the body of the carton may be 0 ened up intothe form of a tube of rectangu ar cross section; the transversepartition elements or flaps at this time lying at the top andparallelwith the bottom which is still in a flattened condition. Afterthe carton has been carton, and the length being somewhat" greater thanthe length of the carton. What may be termed the rear wall OP SIdB 2 ofthe frame extends a considerable distance above the front wall or side3. There is a stop 4- on the inner side of the rear wall near onev end.The carton to be set up, after it has been opened, asheretoforeexplained is laid on the frame, upside down, with t e rearsidewall of the carton resting against the rear wall of the frame, andone end of the carton engaged with the stop; the carton being thusaccurately located with respect to the frame.

ton and swing them into upright positions;- the gri pers of each pairlying on oppositev sides the corresponding partition element andclamping the latter between the same so as to hold it accurately in a,predetermined vertical osition, namely in a position such that the ooksthereon re 'ster'with the corresponding slots in the ottom wall' of thecarton. Means are provided for then pressing down the bottom of thecarton along the longitudinal center line, so as to force it intoengagement with the books.

The grippers in the arrangement shown consist of a series of plates orwings 6 having shafts or trunnions 7 extending between and at ri htangles to the front and rear walls of t e frame, together with a secondseries of wings or plates 8 also provided with shafts or trunnions 9extending between and at right angles to the front and rear-sides of theframe. The elements 6 may be simple flat plates radiating from theirpivotal axis. In order to prevent interference between the element 8 ofone pair of'grippers and the element 6 of the next pair, the elements 8are bent so as tobe L-shaped. Therefore the pivotal axis of each of theelements 8-may be displaced toward one side and below the pivotal axisof the cooperating gripping element. The parts are so disposed that eachgripping element 8 extends downwardly and laterally underneath thepivotal axis of the corresponding gripper element 6, and then upwardlypast suchplvotal axis on the far side of the latter. Normally, when themachine is not in use, the plates 6 are all inclined in one directionand to the same extent, whereas the free arms or flanges of the elements8 are inclined in the opposite directions. However, when the ulppergripper elements are swung in the c ockwise direction, as viewed in Fig.5, and the lower gripper elements are swung in the counterclockwisedirection, the elements 6 may be brought into vertical positions withthe free arms orflanges, or at least the ends of the latter, lyingparallel therewith as shown in Fig. 6. p

The gripper elements being in the positions shown in Fig. 5 and theinverted opened carton being pressed down on the same, it will be seenthat the free ends of the transverse partitions or flaps E strike thegripper elements 6 and are partially swung up bythe latter. When thecarton is pressed down as far-as it will go, it is brought to rest onthe top of a rail 10 at the rear of the frame and on top' of the frontwall or rail 3; one side of the carton being engagedv with the rear wallor bar 2 and one end with the stop 4. If now the gripper elements areswung up as heretofore explained, the elements 6 will gradually swingthe flaps or partitions in the carton into vertical positions, whereasthe free ends of the gripper elements 8 will swing over and engage withthe opposite sides of the flaps or partitions. The result is that theflaps or partitions will be positively held in vertical positionsasindicated-in Figs. 6, 8 and 10 namely in registration with the slots Finthe bottom of the carton.

After the flaps have been swung up and are held in upright positions along blade 12 may be pressed down along the longitudinal center 0 thebottom, forcing the bottom into a trough-shape as best shown in Fi 9. Asthe bottom of the carton is depresse and deformed, the hooked ends 6 onthe transverse partitions pass through the slots F, so that the freeends of the transverse partitions become interlocked with the bottom ofthe carton. I

In order to permit the bottom ofthe carton to be pressed down into atrough shape, the central portions of the gripping plates are cut awayat the top to form therein dee V-shaped notches 14, the open sides ofwhic are almost as long as the width of the plates.

The grippers and the movable blade may be actuated in any suitablemanner. In the arrangement shown, the shafts or trunnions for thegripper elements project at the rear side of the frame and theprojecting end of each is provided with a radial arm fixed thereto. Thearms connected with the upper shafts or trunnions 7 are indicated at 15and those asso-' ciated with the lower Sl? of shafts or trunnions areindicated at 16. The arms 15 are all parallel with each other as arealso the arms 16. The arms 15 are connected together by a suitableconnecting rod 17, and a second connecting rod 18 extends between thefree endsof the arm 16. The connecting rod 17 has an arm 19 extendingdownwardly from one end thereof past the rod 18. A pin 20 on the rod 18projects into a vertical slot 21 in the arm 19. Consequently if one ofthe connecting rods is reciprocated in the direction of its length, theother will be given corresponding movements. One of the arms 7 isprovided with an upward extension 22. On the part 22 is a roller 23 thatextends into a cam groove 24 in a cam block 25 on the rear side of themachine. The cam block is fixed on a horizontal shaft 26 extendingparallel with the longitudinal axis of the machine on the rear side ofthe latter. The shaft 26 is supported in suitable brackets 27 projectingrearwardly from the frame, or otherwise. An operating lever or handle 28is fixed to and extends radially from one end of the shaft 26. The shaft26 has thereon two arms 29, 29, each lying in a plane at right angles tothe longitudinalaxis of the shaft, and being of U shape. The blade 12extends between and is fixed to the outer ends of the arms 29.

means The cam groove 24 has an initial diagonal section and a finalsection whose long axis is in a plane at right angles to the long axisofthe shaft 26. When the machine is en asshown in Figs. 1, 4, and 7, thecam ro ler lies in that end of the inclined section of the cam grooveremote from the final or terminal section. Consequently when theoperating lever or handle 28 is swung up, the first result will be theshifting of the connecting rods 17 and 18 toward the leftas viewed inFig. 1'

, in Fig. 5 to those shown in Fig. 6. Then,

when the cam roller enters the straight portion 1 of the cam groove, nofurther "movement of i the connecting rods can take place but they andthe gripper elements are locked against displacement and the transversepartitions are positively held in upright positions. However, the blade12 is permltted to swing down as the cam roller travels through thestralght portion of the cam groove, into the position illustrated inFig. 9. In other words, normally the operating lever or handle ishorizontal as shown in Fig. 7, so that the carton may be placed inposition on the machine. Then, when the handle is swung up .into aboutthe position in Fig. 8, the trans-' verse partitions have been raisedand defi nitely positioned in registration with the slots F in thebottom of the carton. As the swinging movement of the handle continues,

the blade 12 descends and presses the longitudinal center ofthe bottomof the carton down until the condition illustrated. in Fig. 9 isreached. Then, when the handle is again osition illustrated in the Way,but the grippers are again opened and the carton, fully set up, ma belifted from the machine; the machine being then ready to receive anothercarton. i

Either or both of the gripping elements of each pair may be mademore orless resilient so as to insure a firm grip on the transverse partitionsof the carton. Because of the greater length of the bent gri perelements, there will ordinarily be enough resiliency in the latter topermit the cooperating gripper elements to be made comparatively stiffand thus insure the accurate positionmg of the partitions when thegrippers are closed.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a singlepreferred form of my invention, I do'not desire to be limited to theexact structural details thus illustrated and described but intend tocover all forms and arrangements which 'come within the definitions ofmy invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim 1. In a machine of the character described,

moving the grippers between said positions. 1

na machine ofthe character described,

2. I a series of pairs of grippers, means for sup-;

porting the grippers to permit those of each pair to move between aposition'in which they converge from the upper ends downwardly and aposition in which they stand vertical in proximity 'to each other, ablade long enough to extend across all of the grippers,

.and means for supporting the blade to permit it, to be moved between anidle position and a position in proximity to and extending across all ofthe gri pers.

3. In a machine of the character described, a frame open at the top,said frame having elements to support a carton inverted thereon andaccurately position it lengthwise of the frame; a series of pairs ofgripping jaws extending transversely across the frame and mountedthereon so as to be, movable between positions in which the jaws of eachpair stand close together and upright and positions in which the jawsare spread apart at the top, mcansfor actuating the jaws, and meansfor pressing down along the longitudinal center line of a carton restingon the frame. a r

4. In a machine of the character described, a frame open at the top,said frame having elements to support a carton inverted thereonandaccurately position it lengthwise of the frame; a series of pairs ofgripping jaws extending transversely'across the frame and mountedthereon so as to be movable between v positions in which the jaws ofeach pair stand blade adapted to be pressed down along the longitudinalcenter of a carton resting on the frame, and means for moving the jawsinto their closed positions and subsequently forcing the blade downtoward the same.

5. In a machine of the character described, a frame open at the top,said frame having elementsto support a carton inverted on the frame andaccurately position the carton lengthwise of the frame, a series ofpairsof gripping jaws mounted within the frame and distributed along thesame, the jaws of each pair extending transversely of the frame, meansfor supporting the jaws so as to permit the jaws of each pair to swingfrom positions in which they stand upright in proximity to each otherand positions in which the jaws middle portions of the jaws being cutaway to produce deep \i-sha'ped notches, means for moving the jawsbetween their opened and closed positions, and a blade adapted to bebetween an idle osition and'a position in proximity tosald evlces, andmeans for operpartitions a apted to means within t e frame for presseddown along the longitudinal center of the bottom of an inverted cartonto force it into said notches.

6. In a machine of the characterdescribed, a frame open at the top,devices arranged within the frame and distributed along the same toengage transverse 'artition's of a collapsed carton overlying t a frameand set them in vertical positions, a blade long enou h -4 toextend'across all of said devices, means or supporting theblade topermit it to be moved ating said devices and-said blade.

7. In-a machine ofthe characterdescribed, I

a frame open at the top and adaptedto support a colla sed carton havingtransverse ends into the, s ace within the frame, and

fla s and setting them'in uprig t positions.

11 testimony whereof, I sign this specification. I

. 7 MARTINBURGER.

roject at their free a ripping said

